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Strategies & Market Trends : Asia Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ramsey Su who wrote (2779)	3/28/1998 7:58:00 PM
From: Stitch	Respond to of 9980

Ramsey, WWII? Naw:) Its ok if we disagree. Its one point. I am sure there are many more we would agree on. For the next round I offer the following: I do not see where you made your point that Holbrooke's remarks are racially derived. That he made you angry is, of course, stipulated. But in your response I lost the logic chain. We can go on and on about the inequities since time began but it serves no purpose does it? What would we do? Tally at the end of the litany? I think the point that Holbrooke was making is "don't use this notion of Asian values". It is a term, after all, that was first coined or penned here, in Asia, by Asian leaders. If we could confine our discussion to this point alone we might come closer to a resolution. You chose to take his remarks, and apparently Worswick's, to be racist. Like I said before, that is an easy out. It is also simply not true and smacks of the kind of rhetoric one hears here all the time. By the way, I will stipulate that racism exists in all forms in all parts of the world. but I do not believe Holbrooke's remarks were racially motivated. Lets go back to the term "Asian values". Someone tell me what it means if it isn't an excuse for corrupt behavior, nepotism, cronyism, money politics, hubris, et al. If you say "family values" is that to say the west doesn't prize the family unit? And where is the logic that says if you believe Western culture does not prize the family, therefore IMF rules are unfair? The logic is lost on me I guess. If you say Asian values is respect for law and order I will point to militaristic power that leaves no choice. If you say it is respect for the elderly, I will say look at the average age of the cominterm and the message of Tiananmen. Damn right respect! A look into a tank gun commands a LOT of respect. If you say Confucian values I will say the overlay of Confucious onto Judaeo-Christian and Muslim values is actually quite interesting with many parallels. In fact the only thing missing is the mysticism of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Confucious was a pragmatic. But I would also say there is nothing truly Confucian about Mahatir, the CCP, Suharto, or the MP in Thailand that recently called for assasins to take out Souros. So, I would welcome some input on what Asian values means. By the way, if you think Holbrooke used the term differently then...say, Mahatir has I would study your thoughts on that point. Finally, I want to offer one thought. If we are truly headed towards a "global market" what rules do you think that market should play by? Do you really think that the base principles should be different? What specific differences should be allowed for Asian countries, or possibly an example of just one since, as you aptly point out, they are all very very different. Ramsey, please know that I seek understanding only. I want to learn as much as possible. Ramsey, our messages crossed again, but I was able to retrieve mine. From this point is in response to your last. I agree that racism doesnt have to have burning crosses and shaved heads. But I still say Holbrooke and Worswick are not racist. And I till say you pull the trigger to easily and too quickly. I also believe that rules should be set by the banker, in most of the cases. I mean here that, it is disingenuous for the East to say the West is breaking faith when in fact it lost confidence based on the facts. Best, Stitch